After a workplace indiscretion shatters his elite footy physiotherapy career, Ard Panicker finds himself begging for work at a metaphysical health spa, selling Ayurvedic rubdowns to yummy mummies in Bondi.
With his sense of self at an all time low and staring down a sea of healing crystals, green juices and sound baths, Ard wonders how the hell his life took him from sport to spirituality in one fell swoop.
His search for answers takes him to Kerala, South India, where he meets an enlightened and enigmatic tantric guru. But when he returns to Sydney, Ard’s body begins to shudder with mysterious seizures—accompanied by waking visions of a terrifying, all-powerful deity.
What happened to Ard in India? …And will he ever get his mind back?
From the brilliant brain of playwright Nicholas Brown (Lighten Up) and featuring a mind-melting breakout performance by Raj Labade, Sex Magick is a wildly funny (and just plain wild) exploration of queerness, masculinity and South Asian-Australian identity. Griffin’s Artistic Director Declan Greene (Green Park, Dogged) teams up with Brown to co-direct a tantalising mix of live video and ancient Indian Kathakali dance theatre in an experience that will be like nothing else on Sydney stages in 2023. Guaranteed.
Want to go deeper? View the online program
Playwright & Co-Director Nicholas Brown
Dramaturg & Co-Director Declan Greene
Choreographer Raghav Handa
Set & Costume Designer Mason Browne
Lighting Designer Kelsey Lee
Composer & Sound Designer Beau Esposito
Video Designer Solomon Thomas
Associate Cultural Dramaturg Jay Emmanuel
Community Engagement Director Gary Paramanathan
Creative Producer Bali Padda
Intimacy Coordinator Chloë Dallimore
Malayalam Translation Anish Chacko, Athira Pradeep, Rashmi Ravindran
Voice & Accent Coach Nikki Zhao
Stage Manager Isabella Kerdijk
With Blazey Best, Raj Labade, Stephen Madsen, Veshnu Narayanasamy, Mansoor Noor, Catherine Văn-Davies
Previews 17 – 21 February
Opening Nights 22 & 23 February
Season 24 February – 25 March
Performance Times
Monday – Friday 7pm
Saturday 1pm & 7pm
Meet The Artists
Tuesday 28 February
Captioned Performance
Tuesday 7 March
Run Time
2 hours & 40 minutes, including a 20 minute interval
Latecomers
Please note, there is a complete lock-out on all performances and latecomers won’t be admitted, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to us, grab a drink, and get settled.
2023 Main Season Tickets Pricing
| Full | $62 |
| Senior, Preview, Groups 8+ | $52 |
| Concession | $46 |
| Under 35 | $38 |
| Monday Rush* | $20 |
*Monday Rush tickets are available online and over the phone on Mondays from noon, for that evening’s performance until sold out.
2023 Season Subscription Pricing
| 4 Play | 3 Play | 2 Play | |||
| Full | $216 | Full | $168 | Full | $116 |
| Senior, Preview |
$176 | Senior, Preview | $138 | Senior, Preview | $98 |
| Concession | $156 | Concession | $123 | Concession | $86 |
| Under 35 | $140 | Under 35 | $108 | Under 35 | $74 |
| Griffin Lookout | |
| Single | $35 |
| Two Pack | $64 |
Production Images
By Brett Boardman
Mood Trailer
Show Trailer
In this production of Sex Magick you will see: naked bodies including pubic areas and genitalia, simulated sex scenes, violence, sexual assault and graphic suicide. This performance also includes representations of homophobia, transphobia and racism. The production makes use of haze, strobe and flashing lights. Please contact us on [email protected] or (02) 9332 1052 if you require further detail or have any questions.
For more detailed information on the performance content, please read our Sex Magick Access Document. Word | PDF
“It may be a serious core that anchors Brown’s story, but Sex Magick is boldly extravagant and extremely playful, with genuine hilarity persisting for its entire two-and-a-half hour duration. Directed by Brown and Declan Greene, the show is relentlessly fascinating in its explorations into sexuality, and all that it implies.” ★★★★½—Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See
“Brown’s writing is reflexively clever, frequently funny, and propelled with curiosity about mythology, spirituality, wellness, gender, and sexuality.” ★★★★—Cassie Tongue, Sydney Morning Herald
“This is exactly what a queer play during WorldPride should be: bold, fresh, sexual, and expansive.” ★★★★—Chad Armstrong, The Queer Review
“Sex Magick is an enjoyable and engaging work that challenges the notion that people are wearing ‘masks’ to fit and how and when should we accept that culture can be owned and practiced by someone not connected to that culture … Well worth seeing.”—Jade Kops, Broadway World
“You’ve probably never seen a play like this, and with so many angles – erotic and playful, thoughtful, spiritual and political, and yet so inclusive and hilarious. It’s queer theatre in all ways, pushing boundaries not just in love and sexual identities, but also shape-shifting the limits of play-making itself.”—Martin Portus, Stage Whispers
“If you like your theatre provocative, risqué and loud, this is the show for you.”—Jo Bradley, Scribbles of Stage and Screen
“Under the guise of a raunchy romp, Brown uses sexuality and humour to entice the audience – and then punches us deep in the fourth chakra with messages about bi-culturalism, identity, presentations of masculinity and intergenerational trauma.”—Vaanie Krishnan, Time Out Sydney
“The success of Sex Magick owes much to two factors. Firstly, the skilfulness with which [the cast] play several roles with super-fast costume changes… And secondly, the magical transformations that are achieved through exceptionally imaginative staging.”—Catherine Skipper, South Sydney Herald
Huge production, huge ideas, little theatre.
@griffintheatre